Although busy with training and preparations for The International, mTw teamcaptain Troels 'syndereN' Nielsen took the time to answer questions about Dota 2 and the upcoming tournament.

So where do you live currently? Do you have any roommates or do you live alone?

"I live in Aalborg Øst in Northern Jutland, Denmark with a room mate I've known for many years since back in elementary school."

How did you start playing Dota 2? Did you play any other games before Dota 2?

"I've played DotA since many, many years ago. At the time of The International, I was playing in team Nevo which was lucky enough to get an invite! As for other games, I've played many different games in many genres, but apart from DotA/Dota 2, not really competitively."

What are you doing when you are not playing dota?

"For the last four semesters, I've been studying English at university. Now, I'm taking media as a side subject along with English. Apart from spending time with university, I like playing other games than Dota 2, both on and off the computer, and enjoy hanging out with my friends for whatever we come up with. I also play badminton when it's the season for it, and like going out to drink from time to time :)"

How do you like the item shop idea, how would you feel about more funny items?

"I'm cool with it, I think it adds a funny touch to the game, and I'm a big supporter of the workshop idea, namely that anyone from the community can design a funny/cool item and profit from it."

What's your favourite hero to play in public matchmaking?

"I like mixing it up, but generally prefer playing not so farm intensive heroes. It's more fun to play action-style in public games!"

What hero are you most looking forward to come out next?

"Centaur Warchief!!!"

Dota 2 is growing quite rapidly and so is recognition of the players and teams in the scene. Do you get a lot of attention from fans when you are at tournaments, and if so how do you feel about this? Did you have any funny/weird "fan-moments"?

"Sure, just recently at GamesCom, I was approached by many who wanted to say hi, have an autograph or generally discuss Dota 2 with me. I think it's cool - it's nice to meet new people and see how they share the same passion for the game as I do! As for weird moments, I guess it's always a little weird when fans come and are obviously very nervous and shaking, or when they send their friend or girlfriend to get an autograph for them. Don't be scared, we don't bite! :)"

About TI, have you ever been to Seattle? Do you think you and your team will have some free time to explore the city?

"It's my first time in USA, so I'm really looking forward to it! About sightseeing, I guess we'll have to see what Valve has in mind. We're going as players, not tourists, but it could be cool to see a few things if time is there for it!"

How do you think does a big audience effect your teams play? Is anyone of you more nervous when playing on stage?

"Judging from experience, everyone played very focused and solidly during our DreamHack Summer finals, so this is not a problem for us. If anything, we might even play better with a large audience backing us up - it just gives that extra kick!"

How did bootcamping for TI go? How did you prepare and how much?

"We've been playing loads of practice games against many of the participating teams, especially against coL, Na`Vi and EHOME. It's been giving us some good insights and ideas for how to play, and of course some more detailed knowledge about these three teams. All in all, we have been bootcamping about 3-3½ weeks, I think."

The international is very heavily favoring invites over qualifying, mTw being one of the 2 teams that qualified instead of being invited. Do you feel that invites are the way to go, or would you like to see more spots for qualifiers in the next International/future events?

"What Valve is looking for is a tournament with the most proven players and teams in the scene, so choosing to mainly invite teams makes perfect sense. Imagine if The International 3 will be fully decided by qualifiers and one of the solid teams from the past year has one bad qualifier run, then they don't get in. However, you could also say that not enough teams get the chance to prove themselves, so there's arguments both for and against.
In my opinion, for TI2, Valve have chosen bigger and more established names in the scene over up and coming new players - the big and established teams were invited, the new ones got a chance to prove themselves in a qualifier. This was a fine decision.
If they were to change anything for TI3, it would be awesome to expand the team pool to 20/24 teams, so that more get to have a chance. If they insist on sticking with 16, it's possible to perhaps let 4 teams qualify and go for 12 invites, or just keep it as it is now. It's fine, in my opinion."

What teams do you think are the biggest threat to mTw at TI?

"In all honesty, I really don't know. Everyone comes well prepared, and it's hard to say who really gets off to a good start and finds momentum for their games. With the massive amount of games in the group stage, it's really important to have consistency if you want to reach the winner's bracket."

Do you have any predictions as to what heroes will see more use in the International? Does mTw have any strategies prepared using more unconventional heroes?

"Again, don't know. It's hard to predict, but I would be very surprised if we don't get to see the majority of the hero pool in play, perhaps with up to 5 heroes going completely unpicked and banned. Heroes which have been strong up until The International will also be strong at the event I believe, but we could see a shift in the popularity of certain heroes during the event if some teams are very successful with them."

Do you think we will see anything of the casting duo of Tobi and syndereN on The International?

"I definitely do. :D"

We are looking forward to both of you casting and we wish you best of luck at The International!